‘I kept thinking it would get better’

ON Wednesday, 17-year-old Andile (not his real name) was meant to be celebrating his passage to manhood after completing the traditional initiation ceremony. Instead, he lay in hospital after a botched circumcision forced doctors to amputate part of his penis.

Andile is the face of a growing crisis in the Pondoland region of the former Transkei. Across the Eastern Cape, 30 boys have died undergoing initiation — 28 in Pondoland.

Speaking to the Sunday Times after being discharged from hospital, Andile described the days after his circumcision.

“At first I felt fine. After a few days, I felt very tired all the time. I thought things weren’t right, but I kept thinking it would get better,” he said.

But his wounds did not heal and, more than a week after he was circumcised, a doctor visited the boma he was living in.

“The doctor told me that the problem was bad. I was taken to hospital and treated. I didn’t think it was bad. I was thinking it would get well. But the doctor said there was a chance that I would lose my penis. I was very scared.”

Although he has accepted what happened, he has regrets about having the procedure done. Asked how he felt about having to face his friends and community, he said: “I haven’t had a chance to think about it.”

Dr Dingeman Rijken, who treated Andile, said the damage was caused by tight bandaging that cut off the blood supply to the penis. He also had a mild infection.

“When the boys come here, they are weak. They are dehydrated and have septicaemia. We can treat them for that. But as for the penis, by the time they get here there is very little that I can do,” Rijken said.